Muscle & Fitness recently posted an article on Intermittent Fasting and differences between men and women. And since a sane human being actually acknowledge that there are only two genders and that there are differences between the sexes, this is an interesting topic. Also, as with all these ‘Intermittent Fasting’ articles, they never mention the real important part, that of actually eating.
Their article begins with quoting a 2020 survey where, allegedly, 24 percent of the adult US populations said they had tried Intermittent Fasting (IF) for weight loss, making it the most popular “diet” in the US. They also added, that judging by the countless headlines on fasting we’ve seen in more recent years, it’s safe to say that percentage has risen.
Then they continued with telling us that, “In addition to being an effective weight loss strategy, fasting produces a host of health benefits ranging from increased muscle growth to boosting immune function and mood. With those benefits (and results), it’s no wonder the act of fasting has become so popular, or should I say, made a serious comeback.”
Yes, indeed. I’ve been using an IF-based approach since 2007. Fasting has always been a big part of our human history, as food has been scarce in short periods pretty much every year until industrialization hit us and made useless and toxic human slave kibble and junk foods available in every street corner. However, ‘Intermittent Fasting’ was simply a necessity in the past, as there were not enough food or time to continually eating and snacking. People were out working, hunting, scavenging, and so on. Thus, we only had one or two meals a day. Usually only one or two big meals, and perhaps a little snack if we ran into something small during the day.
Of course, back then, there were no man-made vegetables, fruits or other toxic and useless junk – only a few somewhat edible wild plants and berries. Thus, humans followed their species-appropriate diet of animal-based foods, as the obligate hyper carnivores that we are. Simply put, we mostly ate meat. And that takes us to the “health claims” of Intermittent Fasting.
While any type of fasting will assist our bodies with detoxification and healing, as this can only occur in a fasted state, it is limited to your nutritional status. Your body can only function as intended if it’s fully nourished, which is only possible if you consume a lot of animal fat and animal protein daily, as in meat and other animal-based products. As most people do not, due to more than 100 years of evil inverted and bastardized nutritional propaganda, they will not get all the benefits from fasting, and some might even burn out rather quickly when trying Intermittent Fasting, especially if they do it for several months.
And this is something that not one single article on Intermittent Fasting addresses – the importance of actually eating, as in consuming high-quality nutrient-dense animal-based foods to make sure that you are fully nourished.
If you simply start fasting for 16 or 18 hours a day, and then eat the same shitty foods as you always have been doing for the remaining 8 to 6 hours a day, you might lose some body weight because you can’t eat as much in that limited timeframe, but you will not really get any health benefits. And worse, you will burn out as you will get even less nutrients as you eat less, and that is why a lot of people run into problems with Intermittent Fasting after several months or even a year or more. It becomes a slow-paced starvation. It’s not sustainable if you do not eat according to your physiology.
With that out of the way, let’s continue.
“There are so many benefits to fasting; It’s amazing how much you can upgrade your body and brain, all from something as simple as skipping a meal or two,” shares Dr. Mindy Pelz, author of Fast Like a Girl.”
No! Who is this Mindy Pelz moron? You need to be very careful with your wording as people tend to take everything literally! You should not skip a meal or two! You should simply fit your food intake into a smaller window, as in only eating during 6 or 8 hours a day, instead of eating all throughout the day. Skipping meals, as in eating less, is a recipe for disaster. That will quickly deplete you of nutrients, making you severely malnourished. And this is why every single “diet” where you reduce your food intake is worthless. Always eat plenty of nutritious food, and then use fasting if you need to lose weight.
FASTING METHODS
“First, Dr. Pelz points out there is no best way to fast, “It all depends on what works for you” However, she does further explain that the benefits of fasting start to kick in when you go 16 hours without food. This may be why the 16/8 fasting method seems to take rank.”
This depends on how damaged your body is from previous abuse. In a healthy human, autophagy can begin after only 8 hours without food. However, autophagy, the recycling and repair mechanics of our body, is something that gradually increases in intensity and strength. Usually, it’s not fully activated until after 36 to 72 hours without food. So, if you want to really heal something, you need to do some real fasting. Intermittent Fasting is only our natural way of living and eating, and it allows our digestive system to rest and heal, which also means that we can detoxify from any pollutants we’ve been in contact with during the day. And that’s the real power of IF, that it allows us to detoxify daily.
After that Muscle & Fitness list 7 “common fasting methods” such as 16/8, 20/4, and OMAD. What will suit you depends on your lifestyle, your activity level, and your body composition. If you’re an inactive pencil neck weighing in at 120 lbs. playing DOTA in your mother’s basement, you might get away with OMAD (one meal a day) or 20/4 IF, as in eating for only 4 hours a day, and then fasting for 20 hours. Still, that would not be optimal and probably not even healthy in the long run, as it’s very difficult to cover your nutritional needs in only one meal, or in only four hours. If you are strictly carnivore, it might be doable, but the amount of food in such a short time will be very stressful on your digestive system. And that is why I never recommend OMAD or a feeding window of less than 6 hours.
So, that means, that if you carry some muscle mass and do some daily physical labor, you will do best on a 16/8 or even a 14/10, as in a feeding window of 8 to 10 hours with three big meals.
SHOULD MEN AND WOMEN FAST DIFFERENTLY?
“We know that both men and women experience health benefits from fasting. However, since men and women are biologically different, Pelz feels a few tweaks need to be made.”
At least she acknowledges the biological differences. Let’s see what she says.
“For men, fasting is pretty straightforward and they pretty much get the green light when it comes to fasting. “Men’s hormones are so stable that they can fast daily throughout the month, with as much or as little variation as they want,” Pelz explains.”
Yes, pretty much. However, most so-called “experts” touting IF does it backwards. As I’ve explained in several articles, our natural time for detoxing is during our sleep when we naturally enter a fasting state. This is also where hormones upregulate, but only if we are in a fasted state. Again, we can only detox in a fasted state, and a fasted state is needed for optimal sleep quality, as digestion interferes with sleep and relaxation. And as digestion can take 3 to 6 hours, that means that your last meal for the day need to be at least 3 to 4 hours before bed, preferable 6 hours before you hit that pillow. Otherwise, most of your sleep will not be fasted and thus wasted. That also means that you should have your feeding window early in the day and your last meal in the afternoon or late afternoon, not the other way around. Fasting during the day and eating in the evening would be really backwards and counterproductive to your health.
“For women, Dr. Pelz explains the importance of timing your fasts with your monthly cycle. “Fasting is fine for most of the month, but you want to avoid fasting in your luteal phase, which is the 7-10 days before your period.” During this time, Dr. Pelz encourages women to take it easy on their bodies and to avoid doing anything too stressful.”
Yes, this can be a good idea if you want to be at your best, if you are still recovering from previous bad eating habits, and especially if you want to become pregnant. However, if the latter is of importance, then it’s even more vital to consume a lot of animal-based food, especially animal fats.
I would also like to add that it’s even more important for women to get their first meal in early in the day, as it will help with cortisol modulation. Men, due to higher testosterone levels, can go a bit longer without food in the mornings without any real ill effects, however, women should be more careful. I’ve seen many women crash and burn from regular idiotic IF-programs where they fasted during the day and then had their feeding window in the afternoon and evening. And as soon as we switched it around, they got better within weeks.
In other words, if you’re a woman, start your feeding window within 2 or 3 hours after waking up. If you’re a man, you can push it a few hours more if you like, but I would still advice to have breakfast and thus have your last meal in the afternoon. That strategy will work in perfect harmony with your physiology.
SHOULD ATHLETES EXERCISE WHILE FASTING?
“A lot of Dr. Pelz’s clients enjoy doing endurance training while fasting; Swimming, cycling, distance running, and yoga and they all do well.”
Seriously, you can do whatever you want during a fasting window. However, those endurance and long-distance activities are extremely unhealthy, and will only shorten your lifespan. I’ve covered this in many articles. A little strength training, as in two or three short workouts a week is all we need to keep our strength up and our skeletal system, including joints, strong as we age.
“However, if you’re fasting while doing something that combines endurance and power, like high-intensity interval training or a CrossFit-style workout, you may find you hit a wall halfway through the session and run out of energy,” explains Dr. Pelz.”
While “CrossFit” might be the most retarded slave-activity ever created, you can do as much “high-intensity” and tough physical labor as you want without hitting any so-called wall. The secret? Being fat adapted. As in running on our natural fuel of fats and ketones. You will only hit a wall if you’ve been deceived into consuming toxic carbohydrates and thus temporarily lost this natural ability. If you follow our natural species-appropriate diet of animal-based foods, and once you’ve become fat adapted again, you will have unlimited energy – you will not even notice a decline when fasting for days. I covered this many, many times.
And that was it for this article. All-in-all, it did not say much, the only little piece of useful information was about the luteal phase for women, and that only applies if you’re stressed and weakened. Hopefully, I did add some more useful information – and there is a lot more if you follow the links and look at the related articles below – or check my nutrition archive.
Also, if you need help or want some guidance with nutritional plans, health issues, fat loss, and/or transitioning from your current way of eating to our natural species-appropriate, species-specific way of eating, I’m available for both coaching and consultation.
